Alvis "Todd" Domerese was born and raised in Michigan. In 1998, at the age of 23, he joined the Army as an infantryman. In his fifteen years in the Army, he served with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; served with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; and served with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas. He did a six-month long peacekeeping deployment in Kosovo in 2000, a year-long combat deployment to Sadr City, Iraq in 2004, and a year-long combat deployment to the Helmand Providence in Afghanistan in 2010.
On December 27, 2004, his vehicle was hit by two improvised explosive devices simultaneously. His gunner was killed instantly, his driver had his arm torn apart by shrapnel, and he had a large metal fragment go through his Kevlar helmet which caused a period of unconsciousness, a large complex scalp laceration, a linear skull fracture and swelling and bruising on his brain. He also had multiple shrapnel pieces embedded in his face that had to be surgically removed. After his injury, he changed his job to a water treatment specialist since he could no longer serve as an infantryman. Due to the physical and psychological injuries he sustained in Iraq, he was found to be 100% disabled and was medically retired as a staff sergeant on September 28, 2013, after serving 15 years, 2 months, and 14 days. Some of the disabilities he suffers from are severe post traumatic stress disorder, severe migraine headaches, and other residual effects from his moderate traumatic brain injury.
His awards include the air assault badge, the expert infantryman badge, the combat infantryman badge, the expert marksmanship badge, the Purple Heart medal, the Army Commendation medal (2), Army Achievement medal (6), Good Conduct medal (5), National Defense Service medal, Kosovo Campaign medal, Afghanistan Campaign medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary medal, Global War on Terrorism Service medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service medal, Noncommissioned officer professional development ribbon (2), Army Service ribbon, Army Overseas Service ribbon (4), Afghanistan NATO medal, and the Kosovo NATO medal. He has been married to his wife Marti for 14 years and has two sons- Benjamin, age 9 and Joshua age, 5.
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